13

Roxy Trailer Petition Delivery

Yesterday, September 12, 2013, Krista Comer (Professor of Literature and Women’s Studies at Rice University in Texas, and author of Surfer Girls in the New World Order) and I met with Danielle Beck (VP of Marketing) and Cathey Curtis (Senior VP of Marketing) at the Roxy Headquarters in Huntington Beach to deliver the signatures and comments of well over 20,000 supporters of the Change.org petition asking Roxy to stop using “all sex, no surf” ads in their marketing.

The meeting, which began at 3pm and lasted nearly 2 hours, was driven by the comments left by supporters of the campaign. We covered quite a bit of ground in the meeting and we left Beck and Curtis with a 45 page packet that they said they would read. The following represents some of the highlights of the packet and our conversation.

Included in the packet are studies (sociological and marketing reports) that confirm that sexualization does not help to sell product or events and that sexualization actually diminishes the perception of the talent of an athlete (both females and males). The only thing that sex sells, confirms these studies, is sex.

In addition to these studies, we left them information that highlights the negative effects of the sexualization and objectification of women in the media:

“The second question (How does sexualising female surfers impact surf culture?) revolves around the impact the current sexualising trend has on surf culture, specifically, the youth. The American Psychiatrists Association reported on the effects of such trends in 2010 (The Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualisation of Girls can be found in its entirety online). Among the many results found within the report (ranging from the effects of sexualisation on the mental, emotional, sexual, and physical landscapes of boys, men, women, and society as a whole), were studies that linked sexualisation with three of the most common mental health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression or depressed mood. These states of body anxiety affect performance in a tangible way. In one relevant study, college students were asked to try on and evaluate either a swimsuit or a sweater. While they waited for 10 minutes in a dressing room wearing the garment, they were asked to complete a maths test. The results revealed that young women in swimsuits performed significantly worse on the math problems than did those wearing sweaters. No differences were found for young men. Thinking about the body, the study concluded, and comparing it to cultural ideals detrimentally fragments the attention of women.”

Comer highlighted how uniquely positioned Roxy is within the surf industry to positively impact the trend of hypersexualization to be found within the surf culture because of

“The longstanding leadership role that Roxy has played in the surf industry when it comes to women’s surfing.”

This was also reflected in many of the comments from the petition we left with Roxy.

Discussing Emerging Trends

With an eye towards emerging trends in both media and marketing, I also included in the packet information on shifts away from sexualization.

GoDaddy last week publicly distanced themselves from past marketing that has been incredibly sexist and sexualizing. They have committed to maturing the brand image largely due to pressures from a similar campaign that erupted around last year’s Superbowl ad.

CrossFit, arguably the fastest growing fitness movement on the planet (and growing since the greatest recession since the Great Depression), is fundamentally grounded in gender parity. CEO Greg Glassman has made it a point to ensure that both women and men are equally represented, get equal prize money in their CrossFit games and uses a system that is not gender oriented when gauging the fitness evolution of participants.

Comer reflected on the last 10-15 years of Roxy’s representation of women’s surfing, from its inception to its current location within both surfing and the larger culture:

“There is a real opportunity here for Roxy to once again get ahead of the curve.”

Moving Forward

Many petitioners asked questions specific to the trailer that were not met with a willingness to explore.

Both Beck and Curtis appreciated that so many people took the time to send in their thoughts and vowed to read the comments and the packet that was left with them. They talked about taking inspiration from the process of our conversations and connecting with their consumer base through the petition and trying to move forward from this point. They also expressed that there would be further conversations after they had the chance to sit with the information we had discussed and the research packet.

Many supporters of this campaign have asked “What’s next?” “Do we continue to boycott Roxy?” “Do we continue to expand the petition?”

I want to encourage everyone to continue sending me your comments via the petition and I will continue reading them and sharing them. I look forward to being able to update everyone again in the coming weeks after discussing with Roxy what they thought about the packet that we left with them. As one supporter shared with me last night, “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

(Note: Krista Comer and I just finished shooting a video summary about the meeting that will be posted here in a few days.)

Hi all of you. It’s Krista Comer, author of Surfer Girls in the New World Order, and a professor of Women’s Studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

I want to say, first, how much I value Cori’s leadership on this petition drive. She is both bold and clear thinking.

Do stay tuned for the video — it gives detail and content of our meeting with senior marketing executives Danielle Beck and Cathey Curtis. As Cori says above, in addition to the petition signatures, we delivered a packet of very current reporting into marketing strategies used by other profitable firms (GoDaddy, Patagonia, Crossfit) that don’t use sex to sell products. Some of these firms have made public declarations of their missions to not use sex to sell female athleticism.

The packet also included a range of studies across different research fields (sociology, anthropology, and psychology) which show how harmful it is to women and girls’ well being to see in media the continuous objectification of women and girls. The findings of the American Psychological Association in particular adamantly oppose sexual objectification of women and girls in advertising and media more generally. The APA calls the social cost to girls of harassing imagery “devastating.”

It is so important that all of us educate ourselves and be able to know, and tell others, that there ARE ALTERNATIVES. The kind of conversation we can have right now with all of our friends is critical to raising public awareness and ensuring that firms making money from consumers show accountability to their base on what are supposed to be collectively held values.

We can have that conversation here on this blog too.

ROXY is not at all the worst of the offenders when it comes to representations of women’s and girls’ bodies, as any of us who know the “bible of the sport” SURFER MAGAZINE will agree. And in the last three or four years, SURFER has ramped up its worn out sexist stuff and gotten worse and worse. ROXY is in a special position to continue its work to build respect for women’s surfing and to build the authority and legitimacy of pro surfing and of rank-and-file women and girl surfers as athletes. Ms. Beck and Ms. Curtis, as the senior marketing executives, clearly believe in ROXY as a place to do this kind of work.

So see the video. And stay tuned for updates about the second meeting. Out of that meeting we hope to report tangible “outcomes.”

There is so much sincere, passionate focus to make a positive change here — it is hard to ignore. I’m sure that both of the reps from Roxy were very impressed. A true sense of grace flows from this effort. Blessings to you.

I respectfully disagree with all you are doing.
There is nothing more beautiful then the natural traditional female body and perfect waves.
I hope to see more videos like this. Most surfer girls I know are wearing modern high cut spring suits and it is beautiful to see more of God’s creation. Go with God and what he created you to be, not against him into a penis envy complex!

There is a distinction that needs to be made here between embracing your sexuality and your body (which are beautiful, male and female alike) and using that in an exploitative, sexualized fashion to sell product and/or an event. There are no waves shown in the trailer and no waves being ridden, odd given that it was made to promote a world class surf contest, Mike.

cori,making distinctions is an act of using the mind..you are using what you distinguish ,to justify your own agenda.you presume your thinking is correct..your answer above is rhetoric…to me that video captured so many of the elements i love about surfing ,& france..not not stephs bum or a new phone ,the other things in the video,the feeling,the sensations. why cant it be about the happiness of being alive instead of getting ahead, achivement (which you seem big on..)& winning?

How can I connect to the person in the video (her happiness, or anything) when her face is never shown? No active being in the world other than being an object gazed at? An object, clearly for the happiness of a male, heterosexual viewer. Does it fit the context of what is being presented (the event) and will it inspire girls to surf (embodied happiness, not simply being in the world for another’s pleasure)?

“For Berger these images record the inequality of gender relations and a sexualization of the female image that remains culturally central today. They reassure men of their sexual power and at the same moment deny any sexuality of women other than the male construction. They are evidence of gendered difference… because any effort to replace the woman in these images with a man violates ‘the assumptions of the likely viewer’ (Berger, 1972: 64).”

Reading the comments of the over 21,000 people from all over the world who have voiced their own opinions of this trailer, it is clear that these are not only my feelings and thoughts about this trailer and this style of marketing coming to bear.

“why cant it be about the happiness of being alive instead of getting ahead, achivement (which you seem big on..)& winning?”

Dean, because the video was advertising a Professional Surf Contest, which by its very existence implies achievement, competition and winning. It also implies actually that one must actually surf. If the video weren’t about a Professional Surf Contest, there wouldn’t be such a kerfuffle about it.

Dean and Mike: How much Roxy merchandise have you purchased in the past? Do you think Roxy should be trying to sell their women’s clothing to men? Do you think women likely view sex, women and life differently than men? Do you think women’s view of the world and sex is relevant (clearly not to you but) to them? Do you have the capacity to read and understand research on what sells to women? Where is your research proving that a male view of sex sells to women or is “sex sells” just an unproven mantra you mindlessly repeat?

Hi Cori, great work you are doing, keep going. It would appear that the two ladies in senior positions marketing positions actually have no idea about surfing and what it is all about – do they even surf to feel the stoke? Perhaps you were not able to obtain that level of information?

What is clear is that ‘senior marketing’ staff working in a surfing industry corporation need to be professionals,with experience and levels of capability to justify their positions. Salaries, etc. it would appear that the marketing dept either a) wanted to make it like this to achieve the level of response they got, or b) have no clue whatsoever!!!

Thank you Cori and Krista. I think that you’re right on. As a man who appreciates beauty as well as a father of a beautiful daughter, brother to two sisters, and husband of a truly lovely wife, I appreciate the tone that you take. I want my son, too, to love surfing and all that it entails without conflating that pleasure with some mis-directed confusion about sex. I’m not surprised that some fail to understand the problem with the Roxy ad; don’t be discouraged though. I doubt that they’re interested in a dialogue though I hope that some at least are capable of learning.

I wish you would write and submit and article on “sex doesn’t sell” to The New Agenda which is supposed to be a new feminist group. They routinely block comments, I guess many of the people who write there are delicate flowers who can’t handle discussion. so it isn’t possible to start a discussion on their blog by commenting but they often take articles from guest posters.

At any rate I am sick of seeing women sexualized in advertising. I’m sick of male advertising hacks endlessly blurting the “sex sells” mantra, where is their proof? Of course what they refer to as sex is sex as men see it. This concept is apparently very hard for men to grasp but there is at least one other view of sex and thats the view of sex through female eyes. It seems that the media view of selling with sex is to inform women how they can better conform to male fantasies but they are totally oblivious to the fact that women have their own sexual fantasies and EVEN non sexual fantasies and are often disgusted by this approach to advertising.

Roxie is trying to see product to women. If you want to sell to me with sex then you need to have hot men doing it degrading a female athlete to a piece of ass is not going to cut it.

Big Mahalo and Aloha to Krista and Cori for pursuing this issue. And to all the 20,000 plus that, like me, feel passionate and affected by a hypersexualised surf industry. The results of Roxys ad and countless other sexual images of women in surf mags, films etc has had a subconscious negative affect on many women and girls who want to surf and who do surf. We simply have a barrier to overcome that men do not.
This campaign has thankfully connected with many other women who feel as I do and it has given my surfing a boost, most definately. I have just trained as a surf instructor age 47, mother of 4 young women and I want to personally thank again Krista and Cori for pushing ahead and challenging the issues which are holding back females not only in surf but in many areas in our lives. It gave me, without doubt courage in some subtle unconscious, maybe conscious way ! I am proud to be part of this movement of non acceptance of hypersexualising women in the media and sport.

So thankful to you Cori and your comrades for taking the petition to Roxy. Thank you for letting our opinions be heard and hopefully they will be taken seriously by those heading Roxy. This is an important issue that we take to heart and would like to see progression in the women’s surf industry when it comes to equality and opportunity.

It’s interesting to hear the comments from the guys. Some totally get it and are supportive and then some don’t get it at all. To Dean and Mike, who obviously are missing the point of all this. Nobody is saying that surfing and the female body aren’t beautiful. Let’s just let the ladies surf however they want wearing whatever they want but let’s actually see them surf. Do you know how much footage Roxy has collected over the many years of women ripping? The public never gets to see that side of women’s surfing. Instead we get butt shots, or the girls laying on the beach together rolling around in the sand, frolicking or taking showers on the beach. As a woman, I don’t want to see that shit, and I don’t want the groms seeing that either. I want to see the ladies ripping and I want the groms to see the ladies ripping too. Great job Cori for taking up this battle on.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T

The choice to address Roxy’s official event trailer with this petition is largely a reflection of the fact that this is the first time an all women’s surf brand of this size has chosen to advertise a world class event without any surfing in the event trailer as well as the fact that I was receiving reports that folks were initially seeing their comments deleted on the official Roxy Facebook page.